When does the 955 motor get “Tired”?

[markreck]

Hello, I'm looking at some input from long term Tiger owners. I picked up a used 01 last fall, as a spare bike, for a very good price. It has 54,000 miles on it and an unknowable service history, although it came with a very greasy shop manual, usually a good sign. It turned out that I enjoyed riding the Tiger more than my 02 Sprint ST and am now looking at:

Pouring money into the Tiger to bring everything up to spec, add a TOR pipe, Bags, etc. etc.

Or, replacing it with a lower mileage Tiger that's starting out good, and is already farkled.

I kind of boils down to knowing if the Tigers motor is good for problem free miles beyond 54,000 miles. Thoughts and personal experience appreciated.

Thanks,
Mark R

[Mustang]

A tiger that is taken care of can go for double that mileage easily and then some .........YMMV

[REGULATOR]

I put 20,000 on my Sprint and it barely felt broke in...

  these motors when well maintained will last forever....  just my opinion of course..

   I love the 955 motor,   in bikes like the Tiger and Sprint its perfect, and not stressed out too much.

[Bixxer Bob]

As the others have said, PROPERLY MAINTAINED they should be bomb proof.  Sprag clutch in the 900s seems only to be a problem if you neglect the battery.  Both the 900 and the 955i engines push 20-30bhp more when fitted to a Daytona (different cams, higher top end RPM etc) but same bottom end so the Tiger version really isn't stressed putting out what it does.

[Tiger04]

I have an 04 tiger with 60,328 miles so far and only routine maintenance to show for it. Plan another 60,000 in three more years. :D  :D

[vdlcinc]

I had an '01 Sprint and sold it last year with 105K miles on it... still running strong.  As already stated, the trick is maintenance.

I believe in the engine so much I promptly bought an '01 Tiger w/ about 25K miles on the clock.

[macgart]

How do the 885i's shake out?  

I bought mine last year with a unknown service hx.  The only thing I knew for sure was that the head gasket had been replaced by a dealer just before I bought the bike due to the infamous weeping when cold.

I just did a service including the valves (only three shims a bit out of spec, but replaced to loose end of range anyway), new plugs, filters, oil, emulator install, farkle wiring upgrades, seat reworked by Spencer, tires, grease bearings, T.B. sync, etc.  

All appeared, to my untrained eye, to be in good condition.  

I planned to keep the bike for a while and then "upgrade", but now I find that I like it so much that the only upgrade in my future plans will be a 955 or 1050.  It seems that I got luck picking this gem up just as the economy was tanking.  I got a great bike at a great price.  It only had 25k miles on it when I got it.  I didn't know if the 24K service was done, so I covered as much as I could at 32K over the winter.

[LAZYRIDER]

GLAD TO HAVE YOU JOIN US. I BOUGHT MY 2001 TIGER LAST FEBRUARY WITH 36,000 MILES. IT STILL FEELS FRESH AND TIGHT. I HAVE HAD SEVERAL GOLDWINGS AND 2 BMWS AND I LOVE RIDING THIS THE BEST.YOU DONT HAVE TO KEEP A TIGER LOOKING BETTER THAN NEW-IT SEEMS WRONG WHEN THEY DONT HAVE SOME DIRT ON THEM. I HOPE TO STILL BE RIDING IT WHEN IT TURNS OVER 100,000 MILES.    :lol:

[Mustang]

:shock: turn off the caps lock

makes it easier on the eyes to read

[Bixxer Bob]

I was about to say there's no need to shout.....

[Tom Herold]

Longevity doesn't seem to be an issue for the 955 series engines as far as the mechanical side is concerned. Of course, there's always the one or two who experience problems, but they're pretty rare.

One of the greatest strengths of the modern Triumph engines is the ability to re-sleeve the cylinders once wear starts to show itself in the form of lost compression or oil burning not related to the valves.  It's a far more simple process than having the cylinders bored out and honed. With a valve shim adjustment and new sleeves, the top end of the engine's practically new. Add new bearings on the bottom end and you're in business for even more mileage.

But you shouldn't see any of these issues at 54k miles. I had an 00 Sprint 955i with over 75k on the clock and only did the required valve shim maintenance, as well as the usual oil changes, spark plugs and air filter, never had a problem mechanically. You'll hear and read about some very high mileage out of the engines over on the "other" forum.

My 05 Tiger 955i is turning 36k and had very few issues related to the mechanical well being of the engine.

These things are designed for durability and longevity - 54k should be just about half way to a rebuild. Ride it and enjoy!

[Tom Herold]

Double post... sorry

[ridin gaijin]

[stuff so good he said it twice!]

One of the greatest strengths of the modern Triumph engines is the ability to re-sleeve the cylinders once wear starts to show itself in the form of lost compression or oil burning not related to the valves.  It's a far more simple process than having the cylinders bored out and honed. With a valve shim adjustment and new sleeves, the top end of the engine's practically new.

Tom, can you tell me more about this? Unlike some (maybe most), my 05's engine has always been a weak point. When touring I regularly burn about a quart of oil every 600-700 miles. I've had it compression tested, results not good, and been told boring's the only fix. My bike's at about 40k now.

--All ears, thank you sir!

[Mustang]

it's easy
when you pull the head the three cylinders are just sitting there in the square box that is the coolant pan they just lift out and you replace with three new ones and a set of new rings
the cylinders and rings will set you back $145 each for the liners (cylinders) and $80 for each set of rings
don't forget the tube of hylomar to seal the cylinders or they will leak coolant and you will need a new head gasket

[Tom Herold]

Ditto on Mustang, only to add the hardest part is making sure the cylinder sleeves are properly installed and clearances double checked. Other than that, it's pretty straight forward. The factory service manual combined with a Hayens manual is very good look at detailing the technique.

The manuals call for compression to be within 5% of each others readings. If any of your cylinders fail a compression test by more than that consider a leak-down test to validate it's the piston rings and not the valves. A trick I've used with success is to put a few cc's of oil in the lower reading cylinder and run a compression and leak down test again. If you're still getting a low reading, then it's the valves because the oil will seal the rings enough to verify if the source of the lost compression. If it's still low after adding a little oil then you know its the rings.

Don't let anyone tell you they'll bore out the sleeves and re-ring the pistons for you, that's garbage and a temproary fix at best. Do it right and replace them, it's easier and cheaper!